Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD A lot of attention has been directed to bacterial endotoxins, MMP enzyme activators, and fructan or starch fermentation as factors in laminitis, but how much are they really involved? With laminitis, it is usually hormones, not the hind gut. In the “horse broke into the feed bin” scenario, too much …
Laminitis caused by high insulin is different from other types Laminitis caused by high insulin is different from other types of laminitis. Both you and your veterinarian are anxious to relieve your horse’s pain when there is laminitis. The first thing reached for is usually phenylbutazone or another NSAID drug …
I’ve written about soil, sulfur and Methionine deficiency often. But everything I see says it’s getting worse. Methionine is an essential amino acid, meaning horses must get it from their diet. It is critical in protein synthesis since many proteins start with methionine and without it synthesis will stop. Methionine …
The wrong diet exacerbates equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) but it doesn’t actually cause it. It’s easy to see where the idea came from. When a horse/pony/donkey has metabolic syndrome it is very important to limit the sugar and starch in the diet. Starch is digested to glucose before being absorbed. …
Sugar phobia has reached a point where virtually any problem with a horse’s hooves may be blamed on sugar. From thrush to weak laminar connections, sugar is blamed. This phobia often comes with stories of how horses’ feet have improved once the diet was changed. However, sugar is rarely the …
